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The President of the United States, Joe Biden, declared a major disaster in Texas, paving the way for more federal money to be spent on relief efforts in the state of the United States.
Electricity has returned in all parts of the state and temperatures are expected to rise, but about 13 million people still struggle to get clean water.
Biden said he will visit Texas as long as his presence is not a burden to the relief effort.
And nearly 60 people died from cold weather in the United States.
In a statement issued by the White House, Biden said he had “ordered federal assistance to increase relief supplies in areas affected by severe winter storms.”
“Assistance could include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster,” the statement said.
An official said that Biden had been in contact with the mayors of some of the largest cities in Texas, such as Houston, Austin and Dallas, to make sure they had access to government resources.
Several other southern states affected by snow and ice storms this week also reported water outages.
Winter weather cut off the water in Jackson, Mississippi, with a population of about 150,000, in addition to Tennessee’s largest county that includes Memphis, which has a population of 651,000.
What’s up in Texas?
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The power grid in Texas, in the southwestern United States, faces increasing pressure from increased demand for electricity for heating as temperatures fell to their lowest level in 30 years, reaching 0 Fahrenheit (-18 Celsius) earlier this week.
And still 180,000 homes suffer from blackouts in Texas. And with very low temperatures last week, up to 3.3 million people were without power.
Approximately 13 million people, almost half of the state’s population, face some interruption in water services, as hundreds of water networks have been damaged by the freeze.
The city of Austin’s water director told reporters Thursday that Austin, the state capital, lost 325 million gallons (1.2 billion liters) of water when pipes burst.
Houston, the largest city in Texas, is subject to the so-called “boiling water advisory,” as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that all planned water must be boiled, even if it leaks. .
Officials say they are working to quickly distribute bottled water, as well as generators, to those in need. Breweries and other local businesses have also collaborated in the effort to provide clean water.
On Friday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the state was providing “every resource to help and accelerate the response at the local level.”
As the state continues to grapple with the climate crisis, Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas faces a backlash after he left Houston on Wednesday for a vacation in Mexico with his family.
Cruz apologized Thursday and returned to the United States after initially planning to stay for the weekend.
How dangerous is the storm?
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The deaths recorded in Texas include people who died in traffic accidents, as well as some who were injured from carbon monoxide poisoning from electric generators used indoors for heating.
Harris County, where Houston is located, had more than 300 suspected cases of carbon monoxide poisoning during the cold snap.
At least four people died in a house fire in Houston, and authorities said it could have been caused by candles.
Police said two men were found on the side of a Houston highway, believed to have died of cold.
An 11-year-old boy died after temperatures, outside of an unheated caravan, dropped below freezing. Authorities are now investigating whether Christian Pavon, who was born in Honduras and saw snow for the first time in his life the day before his death, had hypothermia on Tuesday.
Christian’s three-year-old brother, who slept in the same bed, was unharmed.
Carole Anderson, a 75-year-old Vietnam War veteran, died in her truck after running out of the oxygen tanks she used to breathe and looking for parts.
His death is one of four deaths announced by Houston-area officials Thursday.
Two other men died in their homes and another man was found dead in a parking lot.
